Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507120005
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
It's called ``Howie Mandel's Sunny Skies,'' and it begins a 13-week run on Showtime at 11:30 p.m. Friday. Not bad for a guy who used to sell carpets in his hometown of Toronto.
Mandel returned to Toronto to tape the show, performing standups at the Wintergarden Theater. The standups will sandwich the rest of the show, which even Mandel has trouble defining.
``I've always wanted to do something different from standup,'' he says. ``I have characters and routines that don't lend themselves specifically to standup. I brought in people I wanted to work with, and I do characters I wanted to do.
``Some people compare it to Monty Python. There are pieces that might remind you of the `Red Skelton Show.' What it really is is things that are funny, and we have found a linear or nonlinear way to bring this group of comedic scenes together.''
Why ``Sunny Skies''?
``That's our theme song, and it's taken from a 1930s ad campaign for Coney Island,'' he explains. ``I saw this black-and-white movie promoting Coney Island, and I made the song my very own.''
He adds: ``I'm more excited about this than I have been about anything I've done in the way of comedy in the past. Showtime allowed me the freedom to take this and mold it myself. We had a staff of writers, but I was very involved in the writing, in casting and direction. In that way, I was able to see my vision all the way through.''
As far as wearing four hats, he says, ``I've got a very big head.''
Mandel admits to having been an obstreperous kid while growing up in suburban Toronto. He was the first-born in the family, and when a brother arrived, he felt the need to be the center of attention. From such situations, comedians are born.
``I never thought about show business. It was very far from my community, let alone my thoughts,'' he says. ``I wasn't trying to be funny per se, I was just being me. I was kind of an outcast.''
Howie, who hates ``Howard'' because people always used that name to bawl him out, dropped out of high school before graduating. He entered the rug business, despite having no experience and being colorblind as well. By the age of 23, he had two stores and 23 employees.
``Then I came out here on vacation in 1979, and I went on at the Comedy Store one night,'' he recalls. ``It turned into a career. My comedy? Everything I got punished for, expelled for, hit for is what I get paid for.''
The Comedy Store appearance led to a stint on a syndicated show called ``Make Me Laugh,'' and standups with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and David Letterman. Then, he began a five-year hitch as Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the hospital series ``St. Elsewhere.''
He also co-starred with Ted Danson in Blake Edwards' tribute to Laurel and Hardy, ``A Fine Mess,'' and appeared in TV specials and six years of an Emmy-winning children's show, ``Bobby's World.''
Is Mandel an actor who does comedy, or a comedian who acts?
``I'm a person with the attention span of a gnat, who moves from one thing to another,'' he replies.
``I love acting as much as I love stand-up comedy. For me, comedy has no boundaries, no limitations. Acting is a definite skill and technique, which I take very seriously and work very hard on and which one never masters.
``I am blessed by being part of a show called `St. Elsewhere,' which was the best college an actor could ever attend. I took enough away from `St. Elsewhere,' enough education that overlaps into a show like `Sunny Skies.'
``Anyway, I can always go back to the rug business. I don't want to, but it gives me something to fall back on.''
by CNB